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JAKARTA: 16 new parties will be taking part in Indonesia's parliamentary election next year. One of them, which is expected to have a major impact, is the People's Conscience Party or Hanura.
Hanura is expected to garner most of its support from members of the established Golkar Party.
It is a different shade of yellow Mr Wiranto dons these days. But for many, it still resembles the colour of the established Golkar Party where he used to be one of its senior leaders.
Mr Wiranto left Golkar after failing to win the 2004 presidential election under its ticket. He then decided to set up his own party, Hanura or the People's Conscience Party.
He said: "In the 2004 presidential election, I garnered 26 million votes - not only from Golkar but other parties too. They are my support base and have been recruited to be part of Hanura Party."
Not surprisingly, in less than two years, Hanura has established its party machinery across all 33 provinces in Indonesia, which observers said was a spin-off from Golkar's structure.
With such infrastructure in place, several recent surveys showed that Hanura will be the new force to be reckoned with in this coming election to be contested by 34 parties.
Mr Wiranto continued: "In six months' time, I'll be able to predict how many per cent of the votes we can garner. But for now, I can forecast that if the current situation prevails, Hanura can be among the top five in the coming election."
Should Hanura meet that target in the April parliamentary elections, it would boost Mr Wiranto's chances of being nominated again as a presidential candidate. He is cautiously optimistic about the prospect.
Mr Wiranto said: "All 33 provinces in Indonesia have agreed to support me as the party's head and to be the presidential candidate. But I have not yet given the answer because it’s not yet time.
"I'm rational. We'll enlarge the party first because a president without strong political support will be a weak president. He will form a weak government."
So for now, Hanura is focusing its energy and resources on winning as many seats as possible in April.
Although Hanura is a new party that aspires to be an agent of change in Indonesia, it will be difficult for it to shake off the image of an old force with a new packaging.
With vast political experience, Mr Wiranto will be able to steer Hanura to success. But at the same time his previous links with Golkar and his part as the armed forces chief in the bloody tragedy during Timor Leste's separation from Indonesia may just work against him and his party. - CNA/vm
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